Growing up, Sundays were special. My Dad would make us pancakes (blueberry, in the summer) and bacon or sausage before we headed off to church. We always sat on the left side, or if we were running late, we would slip into the balcony. My Grandfather had the most amazing singing voice, and often sat behind us.

After church we would go to Sunday school or catechism, and after that my mom or dad would pick us up and take us to Grandma and Grandpa Leep’s house. There we had coffee and cheese and crackers and often some sort of baked good. My Grandmother’s chocolate chip cookies were to die for. And then there was the dark bread with butter and cheddar cheese.

My Grandparents always had a garden, and a blueberry bush, which we would often raid after the official snack; rhubarb was especially tasty to chew on raw. Sometimes we were invited to stay, if it was a special occasion such as my Dad’s birthday. Other times we would go home, where my Mom and Dad would cook a veritable feast.

After dinner was nap time, or sometimes fishing. And at night we would have a light snack and then head over to my Grandma and Grandpa Schaafsma’s to visit.

Over time, as we got older and started dating, Sunday Dinner took on a new meaning. If things started to get serious, you might get invited to your boyfriend’s house for Sunday Dinner. Or you might invite them for Dinner at your house. Dinner in this sense was always the noon (more like 1-2 PM) meal.

To this day my husband and I go to my parent’s house every other Sunday, as do my two sisters and their families who live in the area.

Why am I telling you all this? Because these are the memories that came flooding back when I read The Minnesota Table: Recipes for Savoring Local Food throughout the Year by Shelley N. C. Holl, with recipes by B.J. Carpenter.

From the Back Cover

The Minnesota Table: Recipes for Savoring Local Food throughout the Year is a culinary travelogue that takes you through the seasons, around the state, and back to your table with menus, recipes, and pointers for preparing local foods. Travel along in spring, summer, fall, and winter as we hunt morels, pick blueberries, winnow wild rice, and come nose-to-nose with yaks, elk, and bison. Meet gardening nuns and artisan farmers who breathe color and warmth into the argument for sustainable agriculture; try new twists on classic and regional recipes that take the pure flavors of fresh, local ingredients to new heights. Recipes include Grilled Rainbow Trout with Chive-lemon Pepper Butter, Wild Rice Dried Cranberry Salad with Clementine Vinaigrette, and Maple Sugar Crème Brûlée. Charming watercolors and color photography illustrate the stories and recipes.

Let me start by saying that I do not live in Minnesota. I have only been to Minnesota once, and that was limited to doing a workshop on mission support in Minneapolis. But I felt a kinship with the recipes and descriptions of farms, almost like it could have been written about Michigan. Perhaps the Midwest flavor trumps state lines.

I love the organization of the book. There is a chapter for each of the months, which includes a gorgeous watercolor, a section called “adventures” which talks about how they go about finding local sources for the key ingredients, sidebars with tips for finding and preparing those ingredients, descriptions of the farms they visit, and finally a menu that is fit for anyone’s Sunday Dinner.

For example, the menu for April is Asparagus Vinaigrette, Minted Crown Roast of Lamb, Bulgur Pilaf, and Maple Sugar Creme Brulee. The recipes throughout the book are suitable for the Midwestern palate, in other words even my not so adventurous mother in law would enjoy them, as would my grandparents if they were still alive. Yet they are simple and tasty enough to satisfy the foodies among us.

The photography and illustrations help evoke the mood of a peaceful Sunday Dinner, and I really enjoyed the writing style. It’s not pretentious at all, and interesting enough to hold one’s attention even if one is not familiar with the locations being talked about. Of course if you DO live in Minnesota, contact information is given for their sources. I look forward to creating Sunday dinners for my parents from this book over the coming years.

Note to our Minnesota readers: The author has several booksigning and recipe demonstration events scheduled now throughout the summer! Click here to see when and where.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. Also, if you order The Minnesota Table: Recipes for Savoring Local Food throughout the Year by following the link on my website, I will get a few cents from Amazon.com. This in no way influenced my opinion of this cookbook.

Kathy was the winner of the drawing!

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